As the World Dies (3 page)

    "…cannot believe you went out with my sister. No, I haven't told him, but I already told you I'm not sure what is going on between us. I thought I knew, but this time with Eric has been so good. Oh, fuck you. No, fuck you. You took my sister out and got her attacked! You're at the fucking hospital with my sister. Do not tell me to calm down," Brandy's voice was whispering harshly.

    Eric felt an intense cold shiver through his body and his stomach rolled. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but he just couldn't bear to. Instead, he laid his palm against the door and listened.

    "Just tell me if she's going to be okay. Paul, a fucking bum bit the hell out of her neck and you're telling me to calm down? You fucking asshole. I can't believe I slept with you. I can't believe I was going to leave Eric for you. No, I don't feel bad that the bum bit you, too. No. No. It's over. No, it’s definitely over. You know how much my sister means to me. You fucking know it and you take her out on a date!" Her voice was growing louder and she realized this and caught herself. Her voice was much lower when she said, "You sleep with her and I'll fucking cut your dick off."

    Feeling numb, Eric turned and staggered back to the bed. Unable to completely absorb the overhead conversation or believe it, he pulled the covers over him and lay there staring at the clock. It read 3:02.

    In just two minutes, everything had just changed.

    At her request, he had left his cell phone in the car, but she must have hid hers in her makeup case. And while he had staunchly avoided all calls, she was on the phone with Paul, her womanizing friend that Eric had never liked. Not only on the phone, but ragging on him for taking her sister, Rachel, out. That would have been understandable considering Paul's reputation, but to hear that she had cheated on him with that bastard was too much for Eric to bear. He closed his eyes, tears spilling around his lashes.

    It was a nightmare and he just wanted to sleep. He would sleep and in the morning it would be okay. It would all be a nightmare. But his mind would not let him sleep and he could feel his heart pounding hard in his chest.

    A few minutes later Brandy crawled into bed and snuggled up to his back. He could feel the tension in her body and he tried not to shirk from her touch. He remained still, pretending sleep, but she was soon thrashing around irritably, trying to get comfortable.

    Sleep never came back to him and he watched the minutes on the clock changing then the hours. Brandy kept tossing and turning and crawled out of bed a few times to go to the bathroom. Each time he heard her voice faintly as she spoke on the phone. After the calls, she would return to bed to fidget even more.

    Finally, the sun began to filter through the stained glass set in the windows after seven o'clock. Brandy slid out of bed again and went to the bathroom. When the door shut softly behind her, he sat up and slung his legs over the edge of the bed.

    All night he had been tormented by the thought of her cheating on him and he knew without a doubt he loved her. He just didn't know what to do and he needed to have her explain to him, ask for forgiveness, anything to make it better. After four hours of sheer torture, he was ready to talk.

    "What the hell are you saying? From a bite? My sister did not die from a bite! You're a fucking liar! I don't care if you're not feeling good. You're telling me my sister died? You're lying! You're lying!"

    The bathroom door slammed open and Brandy stumbled out. She didn't even hide her phone smashed up against her ear. She plugged in the TV and hit the button to turn it on not even noticing Eric standing nearby.

    "I don't understand. What do you mean? Why are you lying to me, Paul? What's on TV?"

    Brandy hit the buttons to change the channel and suddenly the TV screen was full of images of bloodied people storming through a city street. They were attacking everyone in sight and the police were firing into the crowd. Eric felt his stomach twist hard as he saw the Texas Capital building in the background and realized they were showing Congress Street in Austin. Their home was in turmoil.

    "Fuck you, Paul. I'm coming right now to take care of my sister." Brandy hung up and ran to the closet to pull out her luggage.

    "Are you seeing this," Eric finally said.

    "We're going back," Brandy answered firmly, her long streaked hair swinging around her face as she shoved her clothes into the suitcase.

    "Are you seeing what is going on in Austin?" Eric looked at the screen and winced as the reporter's voice droned on and more scenes of what looked like National Guard soldiers shooting what appeared to be rabid people trying to attack them played out on the TV.

    "The army is there. They'll fix it by the time I get there. Rachel is in the hospital. Some bum bit her last night and she's sick. She needs me," Brandy said. "Mom and Dad are in France and I need to be there."

    "Brandy, are you actually paying attention to the news. You can't go back," Eric said in a voice that sounded strangely calm despite the trembling of his hands.

    As she pulled on a pair of shorts, she glared at him fiercely. "Don't tell me what to do. The army is there. Get your stuff. We're going now!"

    Eric reluctantly began to pull on his Dockers from the day before. The local Texas news cut to the national news. A map of the United States appeared with red dots surrounding several major cities. He sat down hard on the bed in shock as the ticker at the bottom of the screen told of the growing violence in the cities. He reached over and snagged the remote and turned up the sound.

    "… continues as normal in some parts of the country this morning as growing violence develops in several cities. The government has issued a statement that all the violence has been isolated to only certain areas and that people should continue on with their lives. The violence in Austin, Texas this morning is being reported as the result of drunken rowdiness after a secret rave at a downtown nightclub and the National Guard has the situation under control. We are being told it is not associated in anyway with the race riots in New York, Detroit and Philadelphia nor the suspected terrorism in Chicago yesterday…" a very calm reporter droned on while the scenes of violence played out behind her.

    "They're lying. This much rioting happening all at once. And look at those scenes. People are biting each other!" Eric's voice sounded odd to his ears. Too high pitched. And his stomach rolled once more.

    "We're going. They said it’s under control and my sister is in the hospital and her drugged out buddy is being a shithead."

    "You mean the guy you slept with?" The words slipped out before he could stop them.

    Brandy was heaving her heavy suitcase off a chair and she hesitated at his words. "Fuck you."

    "Well, evidently you're fucking someone else," Eric said defensively.

    "My sister is in the hospital, dickwad!" She threw his shoes at him and his shirt from the day before. "If you love me, you'll come with me."

    "Brandy, are you even watching the news. What is going on? Something is wrong. They put PCP in the water or something. Or some kind of chemical."

    "Who?"

    "Terrorists or something," Eric said. "Don't you see what is going on? Look at where the red dots are. They're around major cities. Being in a major city is a danger right now. Your sister is in the hospital and that's a safe place to be. We need to stay here until they figure out what the hell is going on!"

    Brandy's lips set in a tight line and she shoved past him to barge out the door.

    "Brandy, don't!"

    Eric shoved his shoes on as fast as he could and ran out after her. Pulling his shirt on, he rushed down the stars as she dragged her suitcase down the stairs.

    "You can't tell me not to go be with her. If you love me you'll go with me and stop being a jerk."

    Brandy yanked the front door open and charged outside.

    "Brandy, listen to me, honey. People are attacking each other, biting each other, they're rioting. You can't go back to Austin until they tell us for sure its over."

    "The news said it was under control. I'm going to be with my sister and punch Paul in the face," Brandy snapped, barely glancing over her shoulder at him.

    "Why? Because he's trying to sleep with your sister, too?"

    "You were listening to my phone calls?" Brandy whirled around, her eyes burning bright with anger and her lips set into a tight, angry line.

    "Yeah, I overheard you." Eric felt his anger fill him once more, but then it burst inside of him and he felt a sob in his throat. "But I love you and I don't care. We'll get counseling. We can work through this. I've been working too much. Neglecting you."

    Brandy stared at him for a few seconds then turned around and continued her march toward the car. "Then if you love me, you'll come with me."

    Eric hurried after her. "Brandy, listen to me, sweetheart. I think if we go back we might die. Do you understand? We stand a good chance of getting killed. Those red dots are over the cities, Brandy. Don t' you understand. The more people there are the more dangerous whatever this thing is becomes."

    His girlfriend shoved her suitcase into the back of the car and once more turned to face him. "If you love me, you will come with me."

    Tears were threatening and he reached out and touched her cheek gently. She slightly turned her head away from him and it hurt him. "Okay. Okay."

    "Good." She pulled the driver side door open and leaned over and pulled out the small black case they kept their revolver in. They never traveled without it. "We've got this. We'll be fine. Let's go."

    Eric wiped a tear away and felt his nose quivering. He felt overwhelmed and afraid. But somehow, through the chaotic swirl of his thoughts he heard Pepe's tiny yap. Obviously, the little dog was in the fenced in yard of the kennel and had heard their voices.

    "Okay, but I need to get Pepe."

    "Leave him," Brandy said in a cold voice.

    "I can't," Eric protested.

    "We can come back for him, but right now we got to go and we can't waste time dropping him off at home. My sister is in the fucking hospital, Eric!"

    "And she's dead, Brandy. Isn't that what Paul said?" He regretted the words the minute he said them.

    Brandy's face flushed red and she hissed, "No, she's not and if you love me, you'll get in this gawddamn car right now!"

    Eric gripped the edge of the car door with his hand and struggled with his emotions. "I'll get Pepe, then we'll go."

    "Leave the dog, Eric."

    "No, I can't. I'll get him and be right back."

    This one thing he could not do for her. He would not leave Pepe behind. Turning, he ran down the path away from the house and the covered parking lot toward the kennel just beyond the garden. He ran as fast as he could, tears slipping down his cheeks. Brandy and Pepe were everything to him and he would not lose either one of them. Somehow, this all had to work out.

    The kennel came into view and Pepe was standing on his hind feet, his front paws resting on the fence as he barked anxiously. Eric rushed to the gate in the enclosure and fumbled with the latch until it opened. Pepe immediately ran and jumped into his arms. The feel of the warm, anxious little body in his arms soothed his shattered nerves a tad and he turned to hurry back to the parking lot.

    The sleek dark blue car he had bought Brandy was already pulling out of the lot and heading down the driveway that wove just past the kennel. Evidently, she had decided to pick him up. Holding Pepe close, Eric ran across the yard toward the road.

    Somehow, they would all be okay. They would get back to Austin and the army would have things under control and maybe Rachel really was alive and Paul was just strung out on drugs and…

    The car roared past him. Brandy didn't even turn her head to look at him. Eric frantically waved after her, but the car kept going. The wheels kicked up a thick plume of dust that engulfed him and he staggered to halt and stood in the middle of the lane in shock. Instinctively he fumbled in his pocket for his phone so he could call her and beg her to turn around, but it wasn't there. Instead, there was the tiny velvet box that held the diamond engagement ring.

    Pepe licked Eric's cheek and snuggled under his chin.

    It wasn't even eight o'clock in the morning yet and his world was over.

    And far beyond the tiny bed and breakfast, the world was entering its final death throes.

    Eric sat on the front porch of the B & B in numb silence. Pepe sniffed around the steps, but stayed close. Eric couldn't even fully comprehend that Brandy had truly left him behind. He kept expecting the car to return once she calmed down, but the lane remained empty.

Chapter Five

Death on the Doorstop

    After an hour, Eric slowly stood up, called Pepe to him, and moved to enter the B & B. As he opened the door, he noted the lack of cooking smells or any sound at all inside the building. Since they had arrived a few days ago, Brandy and Eric had been the only guests. Usually Mrs. Waskom was in the kitchen cooking a delicious breakfast that was set out on the table around eight-thirty. Curious, he strode through the foyer and hallway filled with antiques toward the back of the house where the refurbished kitchen was located. He found it empty.